Sugar Hearts

Many thanks to Lady Sunny, FlamesEmbrace, Rin-Chan, and Girl in a Tree for their much appreciated feedback. I realize that last chapter wasn\'t to everyone\'s taste, so I especially appreciate everyone who stuck with this story, despite that.

Love,
Falcon

Sugar Hearts

Chapter Nine

“Please, lady. It’s freezing. Go home.”

Pepper shoved her hands even deeper into the pockets of her coat, and tried to ignore the snow that had begun to drift around the ankles of her bright red boots. Instead of dwelling on the dropping air temperature, she focused her attention on the gatehouse, and the young man sheltered within it. “I told you,” she repeated, clearly shaping each word before speaking it into the booth’s intercom, as if their standoff was merely the result of some simple miscommunication. “I came here to see my brother. I’m not leaving until I do.”

“Yeah, I got that. But your brother is Kale’s personal piece of ass. No one sees him unless Kale says so. And Kale didn’t say nothing about you.”

Attempting to hide her shivering, Pepper drew herself up to her full height, and gave the young man a regal stare. “I’m sure that’s only because he didn’t realize I was coming.”

“I’m sure,” the young man echoed, sounding dubious. “Listen, lady. If you keep standing there, I’m sure you’ll make one of the prettiest snow women I’ve ever seen. But I’d still prefer it if you went back to your nice warm car, drove back to your nice warm house, and forgot all about this.”

“Not until I see my brother.”

The young man rewarded her persistence with a weary look, and then returned to the magazine he’d been reading when she arrived. Several more minutes ticked by. But Pepper held her ground. Despite her growing discomfort, she was prepared to stand there until the snow piled up around her neck. James had made her promise not to take any action until he looked into the matter. Well, he had, and now she was going to do something, before the next visit she got from James was to request her presence at the local morgue. The thought of Marzi, shoved into one of those horrible body-sized drawers, filled Pepper with enough fiery resolve to withstand twenty blizzards.

After another minute, the young man looked up, and saw that she was still there. With curse, he tossed down his magazine. “Alright! Look, I’ll call Kale, alright? I’ll ask him if you can visit your brother. But he’s not going to say yes.”

“Just tell him that Peppermint Penicandey is here to see Marzipan Penicandey.”

“I’ll tell him,” the young man assured. Then he lifted the gatehouse phone, and dialed a number. With his words directed into the phone instead of the intercom, Pepper couldn’t make out what he was saying, but she could see his expression change from resignation to actual surprise. After a moment, he hung up the phone, and turned back toward her. “It must be your lucky day, lady. He said you can come on in. Someone will meet you at the door.”

“Thank you,” Pepper acknowledged, trying to mask her own surprise.

The young man pressed a button, and the iron gates which had barred her passage slowly slid open. Pepper glanced back at her parked car. But she was afraid that by the time she returned to it, got in, and got it started, Kale might have changed his mind. So she passed through the gates on foot, and began the long trudge up Kale’s driveway.

When Pepper finally reached the porch, and rang the doorbell, her summons was promptly answered by a woman wearing dark glasses, a black suit, and leather gloves.

“Hello,” Pepper began. “I’m—“

“I know who you are, Ma’am. Please come with me.”

Obediently, Pepper stepped into the house. Knowing Kale’s heritage, some melodramatic part of her had expected his residence to be decorated with obscene statuary, bits of sacrificed animals, and pentacles drawn in blood. But instead, she found herself in a tastefully furnished entrance hall. Her guide nodded to a coat rack, and Pepper struggled out of her winter gear, before hanging it up. By the time she finished, the woman had already started to walk down the hall.

Pursuing her, Pepper found herself hurrying down another hallway, lined on both sides with open doors, which revealed tantalizing hints of the shadowy rooms beyond them. As much as Pepper’s pace allowed, she scanned each bit of darkness. But no monsters jumped out at her. In fact, the only sinister element was the rising temperature. At first, the steamy air felt wonderful, banishing the shivers which still lingered after her chill vigil. However, by the time they mounted the second flight of stairs, Pepper had begun to sweat.

Finally, they came to a halt in front of a closed door. “He’s in there, Ma’am. Have a good visit.”

Then, with a polite nod of her head, Pepper’s guide walked back the way they had come.

Unsure what she might find beyond it, Pepper braced herself as she pushed open the door to Marzi’s room. But all her fears seemed unfounded. Marzi lay on the bed, a pair of headphones fixed over his ears, and a portable CD player clutched in his hand. His eyes were closed, and his head bobbed in time to a beat she couldn’t hear. The expression of bliss on his face made Pepper smile. Despite all the times she’d been frustrated by Marzi’s inability to think about the future, she had to admire the passion with which he lived each moment as it came to him.

Crossing over to the bed, Pepper looked down at her brother with undisguised love. “Hey,” she greeted, although she knew he couldn’t hear her. Then she brushed her fingers across the back of his hand.

At her touch, Marzi’s eyes snapped open. An instant later, his lips split into a wide grin, and he tore off the headphones as he jumped to his feet. “Pepper! I was just listening to this great new hip-hop group. Kale took me to see them last night, and after the show we all hung out this incredible bar, and then...“ Abruptly, Marzi seemed to realize he was babbling. Tossing the CD player down on the bed, he hurled his arms around his sister. “Damn it, Pepper. I’ve missed you so much.”

“I’ve missed you, too, Marzi.”

“What are you doing here?” he asked, still holding her tightly. “I thought Christmas was one of your busiest seasons, and all that?”

“Well, as someone I know pointed out, a slightly lower number of sales probably won’t drive us into bankruptcy. I shut Sugar Hearts for a few days.” Pepper didn’t mention that the closure had been suggested by James, after his request for a police presence at the store had gotten held up. He seemed to feel that it would be better if she could lay low until certain things played out, and Pepper didn’t argue. James could have told her to stick jellybeans up her nose while juggling porcupines, and she wouldn’t have argued. On the other hand, it was possible that going off on her own to demand a visit with her brother wasn’t exactly the sort of laying low that James had in mind.

For a long time, she and Marzi just clung to each other. However, as Pepper held Marzi, she felt something strange prickle against her senses. Something not quite there anymore, like the ghost of an electrical storm. And, in an instant, she knew what it was. “Marzi! Someone else has used magic on you. Healing magic.” Pulling free from Marzi’s embrace, Pepper stumbled backward. “Oh my god. I knew it. Kale hurt you.”

But Marzi shook his head. “No. That is, yes. But only because I wanted him to. It’s complicated.” Tenderly, he took her hands in his. “Kale hasn’t done anything against my will. I promise.”

“Do you swear it on the name of Mr. Cuddles?” Pepper demanded, recalling the stuffed toy rabbit that Marzi had been devoted to when they were children.

Her brother smiled at the memory. “Yes, Pepper. I swear it on the name of Mr. Cuddles, and on the fairy that supposedly lived in your flowerpot, and on the sacred vow we made to never reveal which of us poured sequins into that batch of mom’s best chocolate. Alright?”

“Alright,” Pepper agreed. Then, for a moment, she matched her brother’s smile. “And about the sequins. I just thought they’d make it prettier.”

“It was very pretty,” Marzi conceded. “Not terribly edible. But quite sparkly.”

Dropping Pepper’s hands, Marzi tilted his head, and gazed at her with unabashed affection. Then, he reached out and touched the charm she wore around her neck. “Speaking of sparkly, I see you’ve got a new piece of jewelry.”

Remembering the Medal of Saint Michael, Pepper blushed. “It was a gift. I...I’ve kind of met someone.”

“Well! It’s about time. I always said that if you ever got out, you’d have a line of suitors stretching around the block.” Marzi laughed. “Which lucky man finally rescued you from that prison you call your kitchen?”

“His name is James. James Kelley. He’s that police officer I told you about. He’s handsome, and strong, and he’s been so kind to me. He helped me find you.”

Marzi nodded approvingly. “It’s always good to have a cop on your side. How are things progressing? First base? Second?”

Wincing, Pepper glanced at the floor and didn’t answer.

“Pepper! Have you lost your virginity to this guy?”

“No!” Pepper exploded, shocked by the idea. “No, nothing like that. He really has been so very, very nice. I know he likes me. It’s just that I haven’t quite...”

“You haven’t asked him out yet.”

“I don’t know how. Everything I think of sounds so stupid.”

“It has been my experience,” Marzi ventured, “that how you ask doesn’t really matter. If he’s interested, he’ll happily agree to help you scrape gum off the sidewalk. If he’s not, promising him a trip to the moon won’t make any difference.”

Turning away from her brother, Pepper walked over to the room’s window. Through it, she could see the downtown skyline, flat and colorless, like a charcoal drawing someone had sketched on the grey sky. Was James out there somewhere? Was he thinking of her? “What if I ask him and he says ‘no’?”

“Then your heart breaks.” Joining her at the window, Marzi slid his arm around her waist. “That’s the risk you take, my sister. With love, there are no recipes, no precise temperatures, no exact measurements. That’s what separates flesh from sugar.”

Pepper leaned against her brother, comforted by his touch. “I bet no one ever says ‘no’ to you.”

“Well, I am pretty damn irresistible. But it happens. Even to me, it happens.”

For a while, neither of them spoke. Pepper watched their breath spread like fog across the cold window glass. Then, on a whim, she reached out and traced the shape of a heart in the condensation. And her action spurred Marzi to mischief. Before Pepper could decide on any other embellishments to add, Marzi reached over and quickly scrawled “PP X JK” in the heart’s center. Pepper blushed. However, her revenge was swift, as she sketched another heart, and inscribed this one with the initials “MP” and “K”. But even as she finished, her playfulness turned to dread. It was all she could do to keep herself from reaching out and wiping away the second heart.

“I’m afraid for you, Marzi,” she admitted. “This thing with Kale. I don’t like it.”

Without looking at her, Marzi fingered the crystal heart that hung around his neck. As he touched it, Pepper could see bits of bright color flash within its depths, like strange homing beacons. Then Marzi’s hand closed around the charm, hiding it from her as he clutched it in his fist. “I love him.”

“Does he love you?”

Marzi bowed his head. “He needs me. That’s all I want.”

“But he’s—“

“Everything I’ve asked for, he’s given me.” Marzi’s fingers uncurled from around the crystal heart, and it dropped back against his throat. “He’s not an evil man.”

“He’s not a man at all,” Pepper corrected. “He’s a demon.”

“He has some demon blood, that’s all. Does blood make such a difference?”

Does it? Blood gave me the gift that it denied to you. Blood binds us together and tears us apart. Who can say what blood has done to Kale? “I’m not sure, Marzi. But I do know this. Blood made me your sister, and no matter what happens, I will always be there for you. Always.”

“Thank you.” Gently, he kissed her cheek. Then, with an expression of mixed sadness and resolve, Marzi stepped back. “You should go, Pepper. This is no place for you.”

Pepper nodded, knowing he was right. But she couldn’t make herself leave. Instead, a guttural cry tore from her throat, and she rushed at Marzi, throwing her arms around him one last time. “When will I see you again?”

“I don’t know.” Marzi’s voice shook slightly as he held her. “I just don’t know.”

Raising her head, Pepper gazed past him. Gazed at the window, where the condensation had begun to bead together into larger drops, which slid down the glass, streaking the hearts they had drawn there, and melting them together. Pepper sighed. Then, reluctantly, she released Marzi. “Take care of yourself, big brother. And if Kale ever does do anything to hurt you – anything against your will – I swear I’ll kick his ass.”

Laughter burst from Marzi, despite the sadness in his eyes. “I’ll tell him. And if he has any sense, it’s a threat he’ll take seriously.”

“Goodbye, Marzi.”

“Goodbye, Pepper.”

Pepper turned, and walked out of the room without looking back. But once the door had closed behind her, she lingered in the hallway for a moment, resting her fingers against the Medal of Saint Michael. James had given it to her. But he would understand if she passed it on to someone in more immediate danger. Removing the necklace from around her throat, Pepper hung it on the doorknob to Marzi’s room. “Protect him,” she implored. “Whatever it takes, protect him.”

After only a few wrong turns, Pepper managed to find her way back down to the entrance hall. But, rather oddly, her coat and scarf seemed to have vanished. Pepper stared at the empty rack in bewilderment. Why would Kale steal her clothes? He wouldn’t. It was absurd to even think it. Maybe there were several similar entrance halls, and she’d stumbled onto a different one? That made more sense. Pepper shrugged her shoulders, and turned around, prepared to try again. However, before she could take more than a step, a gloved hand reached out of the shadows, and clamped a sweet-smelling cloth over Pepper’s mouth and nose.

For a moment, Pepper struggled wildly. Then, unconsciousness took her in its arms, and carried her into darkness.